[liljojo4711]

my car has 195000 miles. i think its burning a little bit of oil. should i switch from 5w-20 to 10w-40?

 

[casper gt]

you'll have to first figure out if it really is burning oil & if so, how much & when (ie. start up, cruise, wot, etc.). also what year is the motor?

 

[liljojo4711]

its a 99. there was some oil when i changed one of the spark plugs last week. and the last time i had my oil changed they said it was leaking under the car. cant remember where they said it was leaking from. should i up the weight though just because i live in texas and the car has a lot of miles? should i use regular oil or synthetic?

i have already bought 6 quarts of castrol gtx 5w-20 and a new motorcraft oil filter so thats what im using this time. but i need to know for the next oil change.

 

[casper gt]

a '99 (with the original motor) should have 5w30 in it, not 5w20, to start off. from what your saying now , the oil is leaking, not burning & oil weight will not help that, sorry. as to upping the weight, you shoud be ok with 10w30 in your case (ie. high mile's, high temp.). due to the very tight clearance's in these motor's, very heavy oil is a bad idea.

 

[carnut59]

no all the 4.6s and 5.4s use 5w-20. go with a 5w-30 semi syth.

 

[liljojo4711]

a '99 (with the original motor) should have 5w30 in it, not 5w20, to start off. from what your saying now , the oil is leaking, not burning & oil weight will not help that, sorry. as to upping the weight, you shoud be ok with 10w30 in your case (ie. high mile's, high temp.). due to the very tight clearance's in these motor's, very heavy oil is a bad idea.

the manual says 6 quarts of 5w-20...

no all the 4.6s and 5.4s use 5w-20. go with a 5w-30 semi syth.

why 5w-30 and not 10w-30 like he posted above? what will the semi-synthetic do? any recommended brands?

 

[casper gt]

most defenately don't use synthetic oil, it'll make the leak's worse.

 

[casper gt]

the manual says 6 quarts of 5w-20.

re read your owner's manual, & make shure it's for the right year (ie. the year of your car) as windsor motor's (which is the motor in a '99) take 5w30, romeo's take 5w20.

 

[carnut59]

synthetic oil is a little thinner than other oils, they say not to use full synthetic oils in higher mileage motors because they will leak inside the motor dont know . i have oil leaks on my honda, i ran vavoline max life semi synth and it stoped leaking.

 

[liljojo4711]

it says 5w-20 in the manual... its the manual that came with the car when it was bought in 99.

can yall just recommend an oil for the next oil change , thanks

 

[casper gt]

it says 5w-20 in the manual... its the manual that came with the car when it was bought in 99.

can yall just recommend an oil for the next oil change , thanks

if your not gonna fix the leaks, try non synthetic 10w30.

 

[carnut59]

vavoline max life semi synth 5w-30

 

[liljojo4711]

hahaha, so one of yall says non-synthetic 10w-30 and the other says semi-synthetic 5w-30... awesome lol

 

[casper gt]

hahaha, so one of yall says non-synthetic 10w-30 and the other says semi-synthetic 5w-30... awesome lol

everyone's gonna have an opinion on something like this, there's not one fit's all answer. the one thing that can't be stessed enough is that synthetic oil (semi or full) will make leaks worse, other than that you'll have to make your own mind up. rthe reason I say 10w30 is that (regardless of anything else) a windsor motor take's 5w30 oil (all of them, if your manual say's diffrent, like I said check the vin# in your owner's manual case & make shure it's the right one & if it is, the 5w20 is a miss print) & 10w30 is a logical step up.

 

[carnut59]

all of the modular motors use 5w-20. for that just about all the ford motors use 5w-20 after 1996.

 

[casper gt]

all of the modular motors use 5w-20. for that just about all the ford motors use 5w-20 after 1996.

wrong, sorry. romeo's yes, windsor's use 5w30 in car's & trucks, till the windsor plant went 3v & even then some 3v windsor's still use 5w30.

 

[DickH]

find the leak, fix it, then put whatever you have been in it.

 

[casper gt]

find the leak, fix it, then put whatever you have been in it.

that would be the logical choice.

 

[liljojo4711]

heres the deal. my moms husband says i need like 10w-40 or something because its got a lot of miles and it burns oil. is that the case or is he wrong basically lol. i think i will just step up to a 10w-30 my next oil change to be safe. so should i stay away from the oils that say "high mileage"?

 

[dannyboy281]

your moms husband has the right idea for most other vehicles but the modular 281 2v is different in the way its constructed so in this case he is wrong. most likely you have a rear main seal leak or a oil pan leak i would just replace both seals they are cheap but the labor is what will get you but if you know how to do it its not a problem just drop the trannny and replace the rear main seal hey even if is not bad which i highly doubt it because its almost a 9 out 10 they go out in high milage engines the oil pan is easy just remove to two motor mount bolt and lift the engine slowly to get enought clearance to remove the gasket put rtv on each of the 4 corners place it in and torque in sequence and to specs then put in 5w-30 your engine is a windsor not a romeo so dont use 5w-20, get high milage like castrol 5w-30 this will help it run better.